South Korea yesterday called for an international investigation of what it said were accusations by Japanese officials that it had passed some high-tech materials imported from Japan on to North Korea in breach of UN sanctions.
The call was the latest twist in a dispute between the US allies that could disrupt supplies of chips and displays from South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which count Apple and other smartphone makers as customers.
Japan last week tightened restrictions on the export of three materials used in smartphone displays and chips, following frustration over what it sees as South Korea’s failure to act in response to a ruling by one of its courts in October last year ordering Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp to compensate people forced into labor during World War II.
Photo: AFP / Jiji Press
However, a Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that the curbs on exports of the materials were not retaliation in the feud over compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms.
Referring to the export curbs, Japanese officials have cited “inadequate management” of sensitive items exported to South Korea and a lack of consultations to exchange information on export controls.
Complicating the matter are Japanese media reports that some quantity of one of the materials covered by the export curbs — hydrogen fluoride, which can be used to make chemical weapons — was shipped to North Korea after being exported to the South.
South Korean National Security Office Deputy Director Kim You-geun said that Seoul has fully enforced UN sanctions on North Korea, as well as international export control regimes on sensitive materials and dual-use technology.
“We express deep regret that senior Japanese officials have been recently making irresponsible comments without presenting a clear basis for them, suggesting our government was violating export controls and not enforcing sanctions,” Kim told a media briefing.
“To halt unnecessary disputes and to determine factual basis of the Japanese government’s claims, we suggest a panel of UN Security Council experts or an appropriate international organization to conduct a fair investigation into any cases of four major export control violations by South Korea and Japan,” Kim said.
If a probe found any wrongdoing by Seoul, it would apologize and take corrective measures immediately, he said.
However, if it concluded that South Korea was not at fault, Japan “not only must apologize to our government, but will have to immediately withdraw its retaliatory export restrictions,” he added.
Japanese officials have declined to comment directly on the media reports that South Korea had shipped materials to North Korea.
The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday said that it had found 156 cases of unauthorized exports of strategic goods as of March 2015, but none involved North Korea.
South Korean and Japanese officials were yesterday to meet.
While the Japanese foreign ministry official said the export curbs were not meant as retaliation over the forced labor feud, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko had referred to the dispute when announcing the curbs, saying that South Korea’s lack of sufficient response to resolve it had seriously damaged trust between the two nations.
Japan has also threatened to drop South Korea from a “white list” of countries with minimum trade restrictions.
The Japanese government was not linking the two issues and that, “logically speaking,” the more stringent controls could be removed if South Korea addressed Japan’s concerns about its export control system, the official said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source